What is the Pass Rate for the CRPO Exam?
The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) is the regulatory body that oversees psychotherapy in the province of Ontario. Unlike most regulatory bodies though, the CRPO has recently made it a practice to disclose pass rates for its exams.
Here are just a few of the questions which applicants face as they approach the CRPO exam:
Historical Pass Rate For The CRPO Exam
For years, the CRPO disclosed that the pass rate was approximately 84% (on average) for test takers across the two annual exam sittings. While there was some variation in these numbers, the CRPO strove to keep the pass rate in and around this range to guarantee the effectiveness of the exam screening process.
When discussing this, it is important to note that the CRPO is a relatively new regulatory body. Many of the standards and processes that they use to screen prospective therapists have evolved as the needs and scope of the profession have changed. This includes the pass rate for the CRPO exam.
In the late 2010’s, the content of the CRPO exam was known to fluctuate quite dramatically between test sessions (with fail rates varying between 1-in-6 to 1-in-8 for all test takers). Test takers would report large variations in the scope of the questions, and in several instances there were complaints as to the applicability of the scenarios offered in the exam. In response to this, the CRPO appears to have made a conscious effort to streamline the testing process by bringing the questions into more ‘mainstream’ scenarios and avoiding questions involving settings such as schools, prisons, and mandated therapy situations.
Current Pass Rate For The CRPO Exam
In an effort to increase transparency, the CRPO has recently begun releasing the pass rates for the CRPO exam.
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In 2020, the pass rate was 88%
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In 2021, the pass rate was 89.5%
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In 2022, the pass rate was 91%
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From this, we can see that the current average pass rate for the CRPO exam is 89.5%
It is also important to note the number of registrants (and potential test takers) during each of these years:
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In 2020, there were new 8180 new registrants
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In 2021, there were 9220 new registrants
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In 2022, there were 11,386 new registrants
An Explanation of the Numbers
Simply put, the number of new registrants for the CRPO has exploded in the past decade. Psychotherapy was once an underserved profession in Ontario, but at the current rate the profession will continue to be flooded with new registrants for years to come. This is a welcome turn of events for some, but for others, it signals the effects of private colleges and their efforts to train therapists at a quickened pace.
What does this have to do with CRPO exam pass rates?
Well, the sheer volume of registrants—along with the public need for access to the services these graduates can provide—has caused the CRPO to reflect a wider scope of competencies on the exam. In other words, they now tend to avoid scenarios which test prospective therapists on narrow applications. Instead, they typically apply broader questions which reflect more commonly seen scenarios involving private practice and multi-disciplinary clinical work.
The Importance of CRPO Training Courses
It is important to note that very few CRPO exam training courses existed up until the late 2010’s. As the number of registrants grew, so did the number of training courses which were available. Most of these courses were delivered either in-person or in a real-time format and were limited by the number of students which the facilitators could realistically interact with and support. As a result, we saw very little impact on overall pass rates due to registrants having limited access to exam training courses.
With the launch of other prep courses—most notably, the CRPO Exam Video Training Course—limitations on the number of students no longer existed. Our CRPO Exam Video Training Course materials are purchased by hundreds of test takers, and we are happy to support a large percentage of all CRPO exam test takers every exam cycle. The ability to have a simple, concise resource at your fingertips has most likely increased the overall pass rate for the exam, and we are proud to be able to play a part in the advancement of mental health supports across Ontario.